Witness Protection
by graybabe
Summary: I have always been shy and complacent. Not anymore. I'm going to remember and save my family. I also might fall in love on the way.
1. Chapter 1

Throughout my life I have been considered the calm, quiet, impassive girl. Not anymore.

I want to start by saying that I had no knowledge of anything about the witness protection program before I was admitted. I didn't _want _to know anything about the program. All I wanted was a normal life with my friends and without the worry of changing my name and some madman coming after me. But that is what I got.

It all started last year at Matt Hunderson's party. I went because it was an obligation. He specifically invited the entire class so I couldn't say I didn't know anything about it. I didn't really want to go but the entirety of my friend group was really excited about it. Especially about changing our image as the nice, clean cut girls that never had a sip of anything alcoholic in their lives.

Ha. As if.

My friends and I are still rebel children than you very much. We just don't raise hell or get in massive amounts of trouble and spill it all over social media. Anyway, so I went to the party and when I arrived I was bombarded by tons of my classmates singing and dancing and generally having a good time. It was weird because I generally don't see these people outside of school. I just shrugged and went to get a drink.

Which was a water thank you very much. Hello, I was driving. So as I went over there I ran into Matt. Since my mom raised in what she believed to be the right way I had to thank him for inviting me but Matt was a little out of it. Our conversation didn't go the way I planned. It ended with him thinking that I was bored and inviting me up to his dad's study.

Remember how I said everyone thinks my group of friends and I are the goody-two-shoes. Well everyone also thinks I am a hopeless nerd. Which I am, or I guess I used to be. Matt thought I would appreciate reading his dad's work reports. Which was nice, since his dad was an architect and that's what I was interested in. So I sat down and I started reading.

Next thing I know I'm reading this really suspicious report about a house that is to be built but it has secret passageways and a creepy sounding basement and chambers for water to fill up rooms and hot air to fill rooms. And it has one of those cliché rooms where the ceilings and walls collapse in on themselves like you see in movies. I didn't know what to think but I was so enraptured I didn't hear all of the commotion outside.

That's all I remember from that night. The rest is just a blur that the doctors say will come back with time.

So, back to becoming a braver, more sophisticated person. Since I am on a plane to my fifth placement and on the same plane I have cried to every other placement, I have decided to be more controlling of my life in any way that I can. Which isn't very much.

"Hello, are you even listening to me?" The woman in black is always so moody. She never shuts up either.

"I'm here to tell you about your new placement. It is on the Pacific Northwest coast and will be on an Indian reservation. No one will think to look for you there. Your last name will be Smith," Here she pointed to my mom, "Your name will be Sally." Then to my dad, "Your name will be Mark." She then pointed to my little sister. "Your name will be Gracie." And last she pointed to me, "And your name will be Michelle. Please try to follow the rules. It costs a lot of money to keep placing you in new towns and a lot more for the damage control of the past towns. I want this place to last more than a few months."

I have moved to five new schools in the past three years. So yeah, I wanted this place to last more than a few months too. I also wanted this place to be different. I have resolved to not be as shy and to put myself out there more. Let's see how that goes.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Twilight. **

When we arrived at our destination I was surprised at how green everything was. It would be a hippies dream out here. The black coats brought us to our new house, which was a sort of rundown mess. I call the people that bring us from place to place and bring our new identities the black coats. Because even the women seem to only wear that.

After arriving I went upstairs to the bathroom to take a shower. And I made the unfortunate discovery that there is no hot water. Standing under the spray I tried to memorize my new name.

"Michelle, Michelle, Michelle." The mantra continued and I tried to remember all of the details that the women had given me.

"My name is Michelle Smith and I am from South Georgia. I moved because of my dads job and my mom wanted to live in a quieter city. My little sisters name is Gracie and my parents names are Mark and Sally.

Later that night I was walking along the beach with Gracie, who wanted to see if there was any resemblance to the third placement, which was in Florida. I saw all of these native men walking towards what looked to be a bonfire. It looked and smelled amazing, with food scents wafting up and people laughing and joking around. I knew it was the last place the black coats would want us to come and that made me want to go to the bonfire all the more.

Instead I turned and pulled Gracie along with me further down the beach and back towards our cars.

"Wait! I don't wanna go back. Can't we stay a little longer?" My sister pleaded with me to stay, but I knew my mom would be waiting by the window anxiously watching for us and watching dad, who had a habit coping with alcohol. I almost didn't blame him.

The next day was mine and Gracie's first day of school and I was relatively excited. I knew that this was when I would have to act the part of the shy, quiet, unapproachable girl and I hated it. It's not that I want to be popular or I am extremely outgoing. It's just that I want to have options. And right now everything in my life, except for my thoughts and feelings, is decided for me. I don't even recognize myself when I look in the mirror. What used to be a beautiful, if I do say so myself, mahogany brown is now so dark it's almost black. I have really bright green eyes, but I have to wear brown colored contacts. The whole point is to not be noticed. But after not being noticed for three years I'm really tired of it.

I used to have freedom over my whole life, now precious few things are actually mine.

I went downstairs after my shower to get breakfast. We haven't had time to go to the store yet so the pantry is bare. It only has what the black coats stalked for us. Like this bland cereal that no one likes and no peanut butter. So I grab the cereal, (we have no milk) and I make my way to the table to eat. I figure since its so disgusting I might as well eat it straight out of the box.

After I drop Gracie off I barely make it to my first period class, which is chemistry. I walk into the room at wait at the front for the teacher to notice me. That's when I notice _him. _He is certainly gorgeous, with the russet skin tone and the black hair. Unlike me he can actually pull it off. I can't help but look at him more while I wait for the teacher to send me to a seat.

The seat that just so happens to be right next to mister gorgeous.


	3. Chapter 3

**Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer**

I took my seat hesitantly and tried not to look at my seat mate. He made this very easy since his attention was focused on a boy on the other side of the room that he was talking to.

The teacher calmed down the class and started role. When he called my name I raised my hand to not attract attention to myself.

After giving the students their assignment the teacher came over to me to ask about my knowledge of chemistry. Unknown to him I had already taken this class. But I wasn't about to say anything since I wanted to stay near mister gorgeous and I didn't want to have to go through the hassle of changing classes. I gave him standard answers and when he was done I sighed with relief, only to look over and find mister gorgeous looking at me weirdly. Once I met his eyes, which were wonderful by the way, I glared at him to get him to stop looking at me. His eyes widened immediately and he kept on staring at me.

"Cut it out!" I hissed at him.

He didn't answer just continued staring at me. It wasn't until I slammed my ruler on his desk that he looked away, only to have his eyes stray back to me immediately.

"What's your name?" He asked while his eyes bore into mine.

It took me a minute to answer cause under his gaze I really had to think about which name I had this time.

"Michelle. And I don't appreciate you ogling me. You don't have to be so obvious about it."

"Sorry. I just can't help looking at someone this pretty. My name is Seth, by the way."

I blushed and looked down at my desk. I was sure the teacher, Mr. Mulberry, had given us an assignment, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was. I looked around the room for inspiration and found that the boy Seth had been talking to earlier was glaring at me. So I did the logical thing and glared right back.

Finally the bell rang and I stood up from my seat. Seth looked panicked when he realized that we probably wouldn't see each other for a while.

"Do you want to have lunch with me and my friends?"

"Sure." I stuttered out. I was really surprised that he had asked. I was really plain before and my new look made me even less noticeable.

We walked up to his table in the cafeteria where a bunch of other guys that looked like they were on steroids were sitting. I have to admit that Seth and Collin, the kid that was glaring at me earlier, are both _really _tall. There was one girl sitting there, sandwiched between the huge men.

"Everyone, this is Michelle." Seth said to the entire group. I almost corrected him with my real name but caught myself at the last minute. I found that letting Seth think my name was Michelle and that I was from Georgia was giving me a stomachache. But there was no way around it. I couldn't tell him the truth.

"Hey guys." I said it awkwardly and timidly, which I wish wasn't true, but I couldn't help it. They were very intimidating.

There was mutterings of heys and hi's but mostly the boys just kept on eating. I could see that they were probably bottomless pits. For the most part I could see they looked like brothers, except for some looked older. Some of them had this tattoo on their arms but I couldn't make out what it was. I wasn't allowed to get tattoos because that would be something the black coats couldn't hide or cover up.

Seth motioned to a seat next to him, which I readily took, watching Collin scowl from behind Seth's shoulder.

"So Michelle, where are you from?" One of the boys that I did not know the name of spoke with a smirk on his face.

"I'm from Georgia." My throat closed up when I lied but I pushed through and got it out.

"How did you end all the way up here in La Push?" I knew that I would get a third degree but I didn't think it would be this bad with all of these boys staring at me sweat.

"My dad had to move because of his job and we all came with him." That part was technically not a lie if you stretched the truth a little bit, so I didn't feel as bad saying that.

Lunch seemed to last a long time with the boys asking me different questions and me floundering to answer them. After school I went to pick Gracie up and we walked home together.

"So, how's the life of a third grader?" I wanted to make sure that I kept Gracie talking. My parents hardly noticed her and if I didn't speak to her then she would never talk. She's really shy anyway and the last three years haven't helped.

"It was okay. I had to speak in front of the whole class to introduce myself."

"Aw I'm sorry kiddo. Well how about we find a place to get a milkshake as a treat?"

I noticed a diner on the way here so we stopped there before going on home. I could see my mom looking out of the curtains in the window waiting for is and I rolled my eyes. She always worries.

"Hey my sweeties. How were your days?"

"They were fine mom. Just normal like any other new day we've gone through. "

With that I went up to my room to start my homework and contemplate seeing Seth again tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Twilight. **

The moment I walked into class the next day I saw Seth sitting at the desk we shared. He immediately smiled upon seeing me and I couldn't help but compare his smile to Matt's. There the only two guys that I've liked.

"Hey Seth." I tried to be brave and start the conversation but I found I couldn't say much. I just had become so timid in the last three years. Somewhere along the way I had lost myself. I tried to stop thinking about this with Seth around. He was so happy that I didn't want to ruin his mood. But the nightmare I had last night wouldn't let me stop thinking about it. I had had nightmares for the last few years, but lately they've gotten worse. Its like my subconscious is trying to tell me something.

"Hey. Are you okay? You seem kind of out of it." Seth sounded really concerned which was a different look for him, since yesterday he was happy constantly.

"Oh yeah. I'm really fine. I just didn't get much sleep. What are we doing?" I had apparently missed the instructions again for what we were doing in that class. At this rate I was asking for an F.

"We're supposed to ask questions about our neighbor as a sort of chemistry lesson. Our teacher doesn't like to actually teach chemistry. He just makes stuff up for us to do and since you're here we can do these kinds of things again."

"Ok. What's the first question?" I already knew I wouldn't like this game because I have too much to hide. The black coats would absolutely detest this game.

"Where were you born?"

"Um, Atlanta?" That's in Georgia, right?

"Are you sure?" Seth looked up at me with a teasing smile because I had basically asked him whether I was born in Atlanta.

"Yes. I'm sure that I was born in Atlanta. It was the closest city with a hospital." I knew that I would have to remember that in case it ever came up again. My life was _way _too complicated lately.

"Anyway I was born in Forks. Do you think you would wanna go to a bonfire with me tomorrow night?" Seth looked really nervous when he asked this and was biting his lip.

"Is that one of the questions?" I knew it wasn't but I wanted to delay having to tell him no. I knew my mom would never allow, much less my dad. I wasn't allowed to leave the house, especially with guys.

"No, " Seth said laughing, "It's not I just wanted to know since you don't know many people. If you have any siblings they can come too."  
"I have a sister. She probably would want to come. Anyway I need to get her out of the house, she has started to not speak ever since…" I knew I needed to stop. I was coming to find that talking to Seth was so easy that I could easily slip up and tell him things that no one should be told. Like my nightmares and what I think happened that night. And why my dad has a drinking problem.

"Ever since?" Seth looked at me questioningly and I knew I needed to change the subject.

"So what's the next question?"

Seth seemed startled and looked down at his sheet. "What jobs do your parents have? Do you have a job?"

"My dad has a factory job and my mom is a housewife. I'm planning on finding a job as soon as I have time. What about you?"

"Uh… I have a job as a security person for the reservation. It's a really casual thing and tons of my friends do it too. My mom owns a restaurant."

"What about your dad?" I thought this was an innocent enough question until I saw Seth look away. Then I was wondering if I said something wrong. "Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"No! You didn't offend me. I just…I don't like talking about my dad. He died two years ago and my sister and I haven't been able to get over it."

"I'm so sorry. I know it seems like I can't but I really can relate." Really it was like my dad died three years ago. He's a whole other person now that he might as well be gone.

"Sure Seth. I'll go to the bonfire with you. As long as I can bring my sister and I don't have to stay out to late. Also I don't drink." I didn't want to end like my father.

"Great," Seth said happily, "I need your number to text you the details."

"Oh sorry. I don't have a phone. My parents are old fashion." Truth was I used to have a phone but I called one of my friends once after we left and the black coats found out and took it away. That's when it really felt real. When I had no access to my old life, I really had to accept that it was happening. I had been in denial up until then.

"Oh. Oh well. I'll just tell you tomorrow during class."

Seth again asked me to sit with him at lunch, even though I had started making friends in my other classes. I agreed because I knew I couldn't resist him. Which was probably going to be a huge problem.

I took Gracie home that day and again we stopped at the diner. I filled out an application and handed it to the nice woman who said her name was Sue Clearwater. She told me that I didn't need to fill out an application, that I was already hired. I thought it was weird that she didn't say this until she had seen my name on the top of the sheet. After that she seemed very friendly, almost overly so, and welcoming. She even offered Gracie a milkshake on the house. I declined because I'm suspicious like that and I ushered Gracie out of there.

"What was that for! I wanted one!" Gracie said with he lip sticking out. Sometimes I forget that she's still an eight year old because she seems to act so much older.

I went to bed that night with a smile on my face thinking about Seth. Even though I could hear Gracie sniffling and my dad yelling at my mom.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Twilight.**

"So mom… there is this guy in my class and he asked me to do something with him. I'm also willing to take Gracie!" I yelled the last part in order to be heard over the washing machine. My mom always loved doing laundry because she never did in her old life. We had a big house and a maid before and I think doing laundry relaxes my mom.

It was before school and I was about to head out with Ma… sorry, Gracie. I always forget that I'm supposed to use her new name in my thoughts as well as in reality. It was getting hard to remember all the names she had had.

"Are you sure sweetie? You know you'll have to forget your friends when we leave."

"It's not like that inevitable. We could actually stay here." I don't know why I got so defensive. Or why the thought of leaving this place made my heart clench.

"Well I guess you can go. Just be home by nine-thirty."

"Ok fine." I was going to take what I could get with my mom. I knew dad had been making her crazy with his moodiness and I hadn't been helping with my newfound curiosity about what had happened.

I started walking Gracie to school and on the way I asked her if she would go to the bonfire with me.

"Ok. As long as you promise me a milkshake."

"Fine I have work after school today and you have to stay with me so we can get one then."

By the time I got to class the bell was about to ring. That seemed to be a theme in my life lately. Seth was, of course, very happy to see me. He immediately perked up and wouldn't stop looking at me. Instead of making me uncomfortable, he just made me confident.

"Why do you look so happy? It's eight o'clock in the morning." I never understand people that were coherent before ten.

"I get to see you. Why wouldn't I be happy?" Seth had a way of making me feel good about myself that even my family, especially my dad, did not possess.

"So what are the details about the bonfire? Where is it? What should I wear? And can I bring my younger sister?"

"It's at first beach. I'll meet you out in the parking lot beforehand to make sure you get there. Wear something warm because it tends to get cold. Yes, you can bring your younger sister. What's her name?"

"I told you this yesterday during our assignment! Were you paying attention at all?"

"Only to you"

That night I got ready for the bonfire. I knew the black coats would not like this, especially because I'm taking Gracie too, but I couldn't leave her behind with mom and dad. Also, I wanted to get her out more. We were both becoming home-bodies, which is something we never were before.

I had had work earlier that day and it had gone pretty well. Gracie got her milkshake and I got four hours of waiting tables and cleaning floors. The food was decent and that pay was good so I don't want to complain. Mrs. Clearwater, or Sue as she asked to be called, was also very nice and understanding of the fact that I had a bonfire to go to and would miss a few hours of my first day. I didn't really understand it and had expected a chewing out.

The smile Seth gave me in the parking lot made it all worth it.

Now I didn't have a car of my own so I had stolen the keys from my dad. I technically had only driven a car twice and never on my own. I also technically did not have a license. I just drove really carefully.

When we arrived at the beach everyone was staring at us. It made me feel very uncomfortable and that earlier confidence I had had around Seth had disappeared.

Suddenly, a woman with a lot of scars on her face came up to me. I appreciated that my own scars from the night of the party were hidden on my stomach. Even if I didn't know where they came from, it was nice not to have to show the world.

"Hi! I'm Emily and I would love to welcome you to the bonfire. Your name is Michelle, right?"

I almost corrected her but at the last minute I nodded and smiled. Emily made me feel better around all of these intimidating men.

"I love your name! It's so pretty. My name has always seemed boring. And who is this?" She pointed to Gracie who moved behind me from where she was standing. Gracie had become very shy and I was unaccustomed to having to speak for her.

"Uh… this is my little sister Gracie. Sorry she's shy." I pushed Gracie ahead of my a little bit so Emily could see her. Gracie kept her head down and looked on the verge of bolting.

"It's so nice to meet both of you!"

Gracie gave me a look that clearly stated 'you owe me for this' and I heard one of the boys chuckle.

I looked at him and he grinned stretching out his hand to meet mine.

"I'm Jacob, one of Seth's friends."

"It's nice to meet you."

The night became more fun the later it got. Especially when we started hearing the legends of the tribe. Being around these guys almost made my life feel normal and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

It got later and later until I found myself drifting off to sleep. After what felt like a second I was being shaken awake by a concerned looking Seth.  
"Are you okay? You were muttering this about guns and something about a guy named Matt. Who's Matt?" I detected some hardness to his voice but I assumed I was imagining it.

" No one. Sorry Gracie and I have to leave. I'll see you on Monday." With that I grabbed Gracie's hand, waved to Emily, and fast walked to my dad's care to get home as fast as I could. I didn't know what that dream was about but I think my subconscious is telling me there was more to that party and I need to find out what.


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Twilight. **

I swallowed my nerves outside the door to my father's bedroom. I knew I had to do this but that didn't make it any easier. It also didn't help that I was sure Seth was mad at me for running out on him at the bonfire. I tried calling him this morning but he didn't answer.

"Dad, can I come in?"

I heard a grunt on the other side and I assumed that meant yes." Whenever I saw my dad I missed how we used to be. We were a happy family that loved and took care of one another. Now we seemed like strangers.

When I opened the door the first thing I saw was my dad in his boxers on the couch in the room. All of the rooms in this were very nondescript. We couldn't take furniture with us when we moved and we had no personal things like pictures. At first we bought furniture other than the ones issued to us from the black coats but then we moved so much that we stopped wasting our money. The black coats gave us everything: food, money, clothes, and homes. But it still wasn't enough to keep us happy.

"Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?"

That so did not go well. He was drunk and angry and I couldn't get anything out of him. I decided to avoid him for the rest of the weekend. Which wouldn't be hard because he hardly ever leaves his room or this house. It was Saturday and I had a shift at work. When I got there Mrs. Clearwater was so excited to see me.

"I'm so glad you are here sweetie! Are you new in school? I have a son who's your age. His name's Seth."

"Wait… Your Seth's mom? This is the restaurant he was talking about his mom owning.

I couldn't believe I hadn't figured it out but Seth had never told me his last name. I wondered if he ever came here. Every since the bonfire I've wanted to see him. I blushed just thinking about it and Mrs. Clearwater smiled smugly at me.  
"Yeah I've met Seth. He's really nice and sits next to me in Chemistry. Sorry I need to get back to work."

I spent the rest of my shift avoiding talking to Mrs. Clearwater because I did not want to talk about any connection between Seth and me. It would be harder to leave if I started to like Seth. And he is so easy to like. I didn't want to hurt any more than I had to and to do that I would have to stop thinking about him. Now I needed to focus on finding out how my family got in this mess and taking care of Gracie. Those were the most important things in my life.

Once I got home I started doing my laundry, even though they are not my clothes. They are the clothes that were given to me by the black coats. They were mostly grey and black colors, which made me miss the bright colors and white clothes that I used to wear. Thinking about my old life always made me slightly depressed so I tried to avoid it for the rest of the day.

Later on I heard the doorbell. Seth was standing outside the door when I opened it with a shopping bag.

"Hey, I just wanted to stop by and see if you wanted to watch some movies. I asked my mom where you live because you told her. I wasn't stalking you or following you or anything." Seth said the last part nervously, biting his lip, which I thought was adorable.

"Um… I don't think so Seth, but thank you." I tried not to notice my stomach tightening in knots when I turned Seth down. I knew I shouldn't have said yes to the bonfire.

Seth looked so disappointed that I almost hugged him right there. He had an adorable pout on his face that was the opposite of his normally happy face.

"Why not?" Seth seemed slightly angry now. Which scared me because he is always happy.

"I don't think I'm allowed to leave with boys my parents have never met." I thought that was a good enough excuse. Truth is I didn't really care what my parents thought. They hardly acted like parents that they don't get a say.

"Well I'll meet them right now." Seth stepped into my house with a determined look on his face. He ignored my protests and walked into the kitchen to set the bag down. He put the ice cream from the bag in the freezer and took out microwavable bags of popcorn.

"Where are your parents?"

"Seth you really don't have to. I'll see you on Monday at school. Just please leave." I knew everyone in the house would freak out to have a stranger around. Understandably, we had an aversion to strangers being in our house after spending three years running from people who have threatened to kill us.

"No I cant wait that long. Besides, who else do I want to spend a Saturday night with?" He said the last part with a smirk in my direction that made me swoon before I caught myself.

"Seth my dad's really not in the mood right now and I don't know where my mom is so can you just go?"

My yelling must have alerted my dad to our company because at that second he appeared out his bedroom door. He was still only wearing his boxers and was carrying a beer bottle swinging between his thumb and forefinger. He was a sight to behold with his blood red eyes and unshaven face. Seth, whose jaw dropped, faltered for a second then stuck his hand out.

"Sir. Hello. I just wanted to introduce myself. I know your daughter from school and I had planned on seeing her tonight, and many other nights, if that is alright?"

My dad stared at him looking uncomprehending for a second before he laughed. I remember when my dad threatened to push away boyfriends back when our family was normal. He always told me the only boy he would accept was Matt.

Once my dad stopped laughing he grunted then said gruffly, "I would like you to leave, son."

Seth's face fell but he turned to leave. That would have been that except Gracie came from upstairs. She was rubbing her eyes from her nap but when she saw Seth her eyes lit up.

"Seth! Have you come to see me?"

Seth smiled and said, "Well I say I came to see Michelle, but really I came to see you. I have to go now, but have a great night I'll see you later."

He was talking to Gracie but looking at me when he said the last part. It was as if he wanted me to understand that there was no getting rid of him, no matter how hard I tried.


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Twilight.**

I spent all of Sunday ignoring Gracie complain about Seth having to leave and ignoring my mom ask about Seth and sending me her suspicious smiles. I know my mom misses talking about boys and clothes with me but I don't see the point. I cant date any boys because we could leave and I can't buy cute clothes because we don't have any money and we just use the clothes given by black coats. I miss talking about those things too, but t least I'm realistic.

When I got to school on Monday I was dreading seeing Seth. He didn't look very happy when he left on Saturday and I dreaded what was going to happen today. If he ignored me I might cry even though I deserve it. If he apologizes I might cry then too.

I ran into Jacob before I got to class and he didn't look vey happy with me.

"Look I know you're new here but what you did was bad. You made Seth upset which is something that is very hard to do and should not be taken lightly."

With that he walked away, but he definitely got his message across.

I walked into class to see Seth smile at me. I immediately felt even worse, knowing that he was trying to be nice to me. In that moment I decided screw the black coats. I'm going to have a boyfriend if I want one and let's hope its Seth Clearwater.

"Hey Seth. I'm sorry about Saturday. I was in a really bad mood and I didn't really want company. My dad was in a bad mood too. Gracie was upset that you left."

"No its fine. I realized that I was sort of out of line, because I hadn't called ahead to make sure it was okay or anything. I just wanted to see you."

"Way to make me feel even worse!" I replied.

Seth smiled and laughed. "You shouldn't feel bad! I surprised you. Trust me after that rejection I won't be doing that again. I wanted to see if you wanted to come over to my house after school to work on homework and then watch a movie. I know you aren't working a shift today, I talked to my mom."

"Sure, but I have to be home by eleven." My curfew was really ten, but my mom wouldn't notice and my dad wouldn't care, so whatever.

"Perfect."

I met up with a new friend of mine named Molly. She was in my calculus class. I was really nervous when I first met her because she's from Georgia, but after an awkward introduction it hadn't been a problem. Apparently she was from Northern Georgia, while Atlanta was smack in the middle. She invited me to eat lunch with her so I texted Seth to tell him I would be sitting somewhere else.

_As long as you're still coming tonight? _

_Of course, see you then. _

I had picked up a prepaid phone at a convenience store without my parent's or the black coat's knowledge. I gave my number to Seth at the bonfire. He was really excited to get it and said that then it will be so much easier to talk to me. That made me blush thinking about why he would want to talk to me. I knew if we were moved I would have to throw it away, which made me sad.

"Michelle!" Molly looked exasperated as she stared at me.

"What?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for while. My aunt lives near Atlanta and wanted to ask if you've ever been to the festival there?"

Crap. Of all the places, someone in La Push, Washington would have a relative in Georgia.

"No I never really got a chance."

Molly looked at me funny, as if she didn't believe me, then she shrugged and we walked into the calculus classroom. Ready for torture.

When I walked into the lunchroom my eyes immediately went to Seth. He smiled, already looking at me, as if he had been staring at the door waiting. I blushed and smiled back. I seem to do that a lot around him.

"So I just want to know a little bit more about you. What town are you from? My aunt knows some of the towns in that area."

"Oh I'm just from, you know, a small one. Your aunt wouldn't have heard of it." Truth is, I've forgotten the name of the town I'm from. There have been so many. But I hate lying to Molly; she's just so nice.

After school I picked up Gracie and dropped her off at home. Then I headed over to Seth's house. When I got there I saw Seth sitting on a bench on his front porch. He smiled when he saw me and motioned me to hurry up and come.

"Hey, I want you to meet my sister Leah. She wasn't at the bonfire the other night."

I walked into the modest looking house and looked at a beautiful girl sitting on a couch in the living room. She looked a lot like Seth; she was just softer, more womanly. Whereas Seth was becoming a man with a chiseled and strong jaw.

"Who's this?" She said rudely, lifting up her chin in a jeering way. She had been watching what looked like _America's Next Top Model _and eating a huge bowl of popcorn.

"Hi. My name's Michelle. I'm a friend of Seth's." I felt very uncomfortable and inadequate talking to this girl.

"Oh your friends are you? Seems Sethie hear wants to be a lot more than friends."

"Shut up, Leah. Come on, let's go upstairs." Seth glared at his sister while he walked past while I just tried to avoid eye contact.

Once we got upstairs Seth motioned to a room on the left side of a hall and then pushed me towards his bed. I sat down and pulled out my schoolwork.

Halfway through are study session I looked up to see Seth staring at me with questions in his eyes. I raised my eyebrows at him and he just smiled.

"I'm going to figure you out Michelle."

Little did he know that thought terrified me beyond belief.


End file.
